In 1993, on the recommendation of the World Conference on Human Rights, the United Nations Assembly proclaimed the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, to begin on 10 December 1994. 1 At the same time a report entitled Indigenous People and Poverty in Latin America (Psacharopoulos and Patrinos, 1994) provided the first regional assessment of living standards among indigenous peoples. 2 It found systematic evidence that indigenous peoples suffered far worse socioeconomic conditions than the population as a whole. In addition to high poverty rates it documented social exclusion via labour market discrimination and limited access to public education and health services. This report set a baseline from which future progress could be measured. The year 1994 heralded a major uprising of indigenous peoples in the Mexican state of Chiapas, known as the Zapatista rebellion. Deploring the world's lack of attention to their plight and fearful of the effects of rapid globalization on their local economies and culture, the actions of these people signaled the beginning of a new era in which indigenous peoples would begin to play an increasingly vocal part in national politics. In the subsequent years indigenous groups throughout Latin America exercised their political muscle in new and increasingly visible ways. Indigenous movements took to the streets in Ecuador on five separate occasions during the 1990s, leading to negotiations with the government and ultimately to constitutional change. But this newfound political muscle was not truly felt unti12003, when indigenous groups led a coalition that toppled President Sanchez de Lozada of Bolivia. These actions are considered to have brought about some of the most farreaching reforms in favour of indigenous peoples worldwide (UNICEF, 2003). Latin American governments have responded in two ways. First, many contries have enacted or attempted to pass legislation supporting the rights of indigenous peoples. Second, countries have directed a greater share of national resources towards education, health and poverty-reduction programmes, and G. Hall et al. (eds.
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